The blame game being played all across Canadian political desks today as Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain fallout continues — I for one say it’s about time! Failure is an orphan as they say… Not today! I think there is A LOT of blame to go around!

Across Canada, politicians, business leaders and the general public were all quietly content to let Kinder Morgan spin in the mud.. literally! and metaphorically as the Trans Mountain pipeline continued to see protests, court challenges, arrests of MP’s and complete disregard for Canadian law and order…

That was… until yesterday… when Kinder Morgan said enough is enough! Good for you Kinder Morgan!

Now we get to watch the fallout continue, and everyone from the Prime Minister’s office on down the line makes sure to blame everyone but themselves for this pathetic showing of the attitude towards business in Canada.

From Ottawa to B.C… and all the stops in between – Blame was being passed like an… I dunno… It’s a long day in Saskatchewan today… let’s say like a Timbit with coconut on it…

First Up – Ottawa –

Andrew Scheer

Federal Conservatives wasted noooo time blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Kinder Morgan’s decision to suspend work on its Trans Mountain pipeline, even though both the Liberals, and Kinder Morgan said they were working closely together.

“The blame for this development rests squarely on the shoulders of Justin Trudeau. He has failed to take a single concrete step to ensure this project is completed. All he has done is give us empty words with no action,” Scheer said in a statement.

I can’t blame Trudeau… at least not yet.

As much as I would like to throw dirt on the Federal Liberals, I can’t yet… Kinder Morgan actually took to thanking them, atleast for now:

“We appreciate the support shown by the Federal Government and the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and are grateful for the strong endorsements among the majority of communities along the route and 43 Indigenous communities, as well as customers, contractors and unions,” Kinder Morgan Canada’s CEO Steve Kean said in a release.

Next up – Toronto – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business based in Toronto:

In a statement released this morning: “The provincial government in BC is disregarding the rule of law and putting politics above the national interest. It can’t be allowed to continue,” said Dan Kelly, President and CEO. “There is a lot at stake here beyond this one project, including Canada’s reputation as a reasonable place to do business.”

CFIB joined four other associations last month in a letter calling on the government of British Columbia to create the certainty for the project to proceed. “Our letter seemed to fall on deaf ears and Premier Horgan’s reaction to yesterday’s announcement suggests that hasn’t changed.”

Ohhh, you wrote a letter…. here I thought you had done nothing! My apologies!

Next stop — Montreal!…. Yes, THAT Montreal! This should be good!

The Montreal Economic Institute issued a statement this morning on the news:

Kinder Morgan has announced it is suspending “non-essential” activities and investments for its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. This follows a series of abandoned large infrastructure projects in the country and once again sends the wrong message that Canada does not welcome investors, points out the MEI, which is pushing Ottawa to act to stop the hemorrhaging.

“This is very worrisome news, especially after the suspension and then the abandonment of the Energy East project. The government must absolutely get things back on track, and soon. Because right now, the message that investors are receiving is: We’re not open for business,” says Germain Belzile, Senior Associate Researcher at the MEI.

“From this perspective, abandoning the Trans Mountain project would be catastrophic.” He closed..

Abandoning now would be catastrophic!? You don’t say?!?! Alert the townspeople!!

By one estimate, pipeline delays are costing the country more than $15-billion a year. As David Dodge, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, told the CBC more than a year ago,“It’s absolutely unconscionable that we don’t take the actions we need to move [our oil] so that Canadians receive the full value for the product.”

I’ll give the final tweet to Jason Kenney… as it kind of makes me gag!

Justin Trudeau claims that he’s been fighting for Trans Mountain pipeline. But just days ago, his govt signed a $4.1 billion infrastructure deal w/the BC NDP – the same gov’t that’s been working to block the pipeline for months https://t.co/Pg6xkkFBCF#ableg#UCP#cdnpoli#CPC

IN OTHER GREEN NEWS – WAY TO GO CALGARY!

California X-Prize Recognizes Calgary team for fantastic work on CO2 technology.

There are many “XPRIZE”s based in California for science and technology leaders.

One of the big ones is the $20 million dollar Carbon XPRIZE.

From Xprize.org

The $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE will challenge the world to reimagine what we can do with CO2 emissions by incentivizing and accelerating the development of technologies that convert CO2 into valuable products. These technologies have the potential to transform how the world approaches CO2 mitigation, and reduce the cost of managing CO2.

This is a global challenge for the scientific community to develop solutions.

Calgary’s Carbon Upcycling Technologies is one of them… and they’re doing great!

Carbon Upcycling Technologies (CUT), a Calgary-based cleantech company, is pleased to announce it has been named one of 10 finalists in the prestigious NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition.

From they’re press release today:

Carbon Upcycling Technologies flips the script on CO2 emissions and generates revenue in the process.

“Making the finals is a huge accomplishment and validates that our technology turns carbon into a valuable material that can benefit business,” says Apoorv Sinha, CUT’s president.

About CUT: CUT is transforming waste carbon into the resource of the future. CUT utilizes CO2 emissions to cultivate nanoparticles that enhance everyday materials like concrete, plastics, and batteries, making the building blocks of modern life longer lasting and more effective.

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WEEKLY SPECIAL GUEST

Cold nights, warm homes! It’s cold in British Columbia, and not just by BC standards! Winter storm warnings, snow fall warnings, cold weather advisories all trickled throughout parts of the province the last week and more as some parts of the province hit temperatures in the minus 20s and